California Family Vacation: Departure

Our hotel in Long Beach was beautiful!  We were very close to a port that had a lot of entertainment and restaurants within walking distance.  The kids were pretty excited that the TV had daddy's name on it when we first got there.

After we took long showers --- the amount of sand the kids brought back to the hotel in their swim suits was unreal (which means a successful afternoon at the beach!), we went out for a nice dinner at one of the restaurants.  Maxwell has discovered that he likes calamari so we ordered that for an appetizer.  Kaylee is absolutely grossed out by the idea of eating squid!

Kaylee modeling with the kids' dessert!

After dinner, we went for a walk along the port to check out all of the boats.  It was a beautiful night and great way to end our visit to Long Beach.

After our walk back to the hotel, we hit the hotel pool for some late evening swimming and sitting in the hot tub.  It was an outdoor pool and a bit chilly but Matt & the kids braved the pool.  I opted for the hot tub only.  :)


On our final day in California, we were going to get up and go swimming again but it was overcast and chilly.  Instead we had a lazy morning of cartoons in our room while I packed up everything for the trip home.  We then headed out to LAX.  Thankfully we had an afternoon flight and were able to avoid any major LA traffic problems.  We had a long wait at the airport and I was "randomly" selected twice for extra screening during check-in.  But we kept busy by watching all of the people, reading and grabbing a bite to eat before we boarded the plane.  Oh and Kaylee insisted upon a few pictures of our family.

 

We had an amazing family vacation.  It was so hard to leave!  I cannot put into words how wonderful and relaxing of a time we had - even during the craziness of Disneyland.  The kids were fantastic travelers (even though Kaylee about broke our hands during the landing) and I am already making lists of all the places I want to take them.   Matt works so hard for our family and this vacation was the perfect way to spend time together and enjoy the benefits of his hard work.  We are so lucky and blessed to have him!!